For his fight against WBA Welterweight World champion, Lucas Matthysee of Argentina, Senator Manny Pacquiao will have two mouthguards specially crafted for him by this writer.

The main mouthguard has a simple but a classic design hand painted by one of Philippines best painters and an inductee of the West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame, Jun Aquino of Quezon City.

Besides his famous landscapes and painting of animals that seem to come alive as one watches them, Aquino is famous for his painting of boxers as they compete in the square jungle. Manny Pacquiao is one of his frequent subjects. Pacquiao has commissioned him to do many of the paintings that hang in his residences in the Philippines and in Los Angeles.

The main mouthguard design replicates one of the tattoos of Pacquiao – the blue colored pambansang kamao (national fist) and the red and yellow flames of a meteor on a white outer background and a yellow inside color. The colors also depict those of the Philippine flag.

“I want it clean and simple,” states Aquino. “I am sure the Senator will approve my concept,” he added.

The back-up mouth guard also carries the four colors of the Philippine flag and sports a simple Manny Pacquiao fighting face at the front.

The mouthguards will be custom fitted to Manny Pacquiao on June 18th at GenSan. Once that is done, he can immediately use them for sparring to acclimatize to them.